NCAA Tournament
Bulls Conclude First Day of NCAA Tournament
3/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
DES MOINES, IA - The Buffalo wrestling team's four national qualifiers finished up their first day of the NCAA tournament, held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. John-Martin Cannon recorded the team's lone win of the day, as Max Soria, Blake Roulo, and Mark Lewandowski all lost twice in the double-elimination tournament.
Cannon opened his tournament with a slight upset of 12-seed Mathew Miller of Navy 5-4. After earning an early lead, Cannon found himself tied up a 4-4 late in the third. While he owned riding time advantage, Cannon needed to ride out Miller to avoid overtime. He did just that, and advance to the second round. There he matched up with fifth seed Josh Asper of Maryland, where he lost 8-3. He will now face Bryce Hammond of Cal. State-Bakersfield in the next round of consolations. Hammond lost to sixth seed Logan Storley of Minnesota in the opening round, but beat 11-seeded Blake Stauffer 4-0 in the first consolation round.
Soria lost to Penn's Mark Rappo 13-4 in the preliminary round of the tournament, and then lost to Oklahoma State's Edward Klimara 8-1 in the next round to end his tournament. Soria finishes the season with a 26-15 overall record.
Roulo drew seventh-seeded Scott Sakaguchi of Oregon State in the first round, and lost 13-5. He then lost 4-1 to Josh Roosa of Bloomsburg 4-1. The sophomore ends his first national tournament, and closes the season with a 24-15 record.
Despite working for a top-12 RPI and strength of schedule during the season, and a consensus national ranking well within the top 15, Lewandowski was saddled with the team's toughest draw of the tournament. He faced third seed Peter Yates of Virginia Tech in the first round, and came just short of one of the biggest upsets of the day, losing 5-3. In the consolation round, he drew Austin Wilson of Nebraska and was pinned just over two minutes into the match.
Lewandowski finishes his illustrious career at UB with a career record of 111-42. He ranks fifth in career overall wins, and sixth in dual wins. In individual statistics, he is in the top 20 in career escapes, tenth in two-point near falls, and seventh in three-point near falls.
Cannon will be back in action tomorrow morning.
RESULTS
125 - Max Soria (26-15)
Prelim - Mark Rappo (Pennsylvania) 23-7 won by major decision over Max Soria (Buffalo) 26-15 (MD 13-4)
Prelim - Edward Klimara (Oklahoma St.) 26-15 won by decision over Max Soria (Buffalo) 26-15 (Dec 8-1)
149 - Blake Roulo (24-15)
Champ. Round 1 - Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon St.) 26-6 won by major decision over Blake Roulo (Buffalo) 24-15 (MD 13-5)
Cons. Round 1 - Josh Roosa (Bloomsburg) 23-6 won by decision over Blake Roulo (Buffalo) 24-15 (Dec 4-1)
165 - Mark Lewandowski (30-9)
Champ. Round 1 - Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) 32-1 won by decision over Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo) 30-9 (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Austin Wilson (Nebraska) 26-13 won by fall over Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo) 30-9 (Fall 2:01)
174 - John-Martin Cannon (12-9)
Champ. Round 1 - John-Martin Cannon (Buffalo) 12-9 won by decision over Mathew Miller (Navy) 23-6 (Dec 5-4)
Champ. Round 2 - Josh Asper (Maryland) 21-1 won by decision over John-Martin Cannon (Buffalo) 12-9 (Dec 8-3)
